Archive for the “Safety” Category

Over the past year, Tempe Bicycle Action Group has worked with the City of Tempe council and staff on properly retiring the two ghost bikes that we placed in Tempe over 3 years ago. The city officials and staff at all levels went above and beyond to handle a tough situation with dignity and respect, give plenty of notice and time to work with the families, friends, and the local bike community, and also offered their time and equipment to re-locate the bikes.

The ghost bike at University and Ash has been re-located to the Bike Saviours bike co-op where it was built. Bike Saviours is working with the family of the man killed, Chris Volpe, on ideas for a more permanent memorial and continued public education.

The ghost bike at Alameda and McClintock was re-located in cooperation with the family of the man who was killed, Jay Fretz. The family has chosen to keep the bike themselves as a private memorial.

Aside from it’s purpose as a memorial, a ghost bike’s greatest impact is immediate bicycle awareness when a tragedy happens. The goal is to remind people to watch for bikes and respect their presence as traffic. As time goes on, the ghost bike can also benefit real change and create positive dialog about bike facilities and bike safety, including the possibility of signage or engineering changes in general, but also where the accidents happened.

Last year, the city of Tempe adopted it’s first policy for the management of any roadside memorials. In doing so they “acknowledge a desire to allow temporary memorials within the street right-of-way and adjacent to city owned land”. This is a positive step since roadside memorials were not allowed before. TBAG will continue to work with the city on the specifics of this policy when it concerns future ghost bikes, due to the fact that a ghost bike’s purpose is educational and awareness in addition to being a memorial.

We will never forget Chris Volpe or Jay Fretz as we continue to advocate and educate for bicycle improvements in Tempe and the region.

Tempe is giving you another chance to tell them you want to keep seeing bikes on the streets.

Grab your friends and head to the Tempe General Plan Citizen’s Workshop Wednesday April 24 from 6-7 p.m. at the Tempe Library on Southern and Rural.

This working group needs community input – so be sure to drop by and tell them that the city of Tempe needs to continue funding bike infrastructure to support you, me and all the other two-wheeled gearheads out there!

Love bikes and want to join, but not sure what to talk about? Here are some starting points:

The city of Tempe is holding an open house to talk with residents, neighbors and businesses about two adjacent projects to improve pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities and enhance the streetscape on Hardy Drive between University Drive and Broadway Road and University Drive between Ash Avenue and Priest Drive.

Let’s show up to represent local cyclists!

The open house will be held Feb. 20, 2013 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Gililland Middle School, 1025 S. Beck Ave.

Click here to learn more about the University Drive project and here to see current design proposals and for a form to enter your comments.

Click here to learn about the Hardy Drive project and click here to see current design proposals and for a form to enter your comments.

The city of Tempe is holding a public meeting to talk with residents, neighbors and businesses about a project to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities while enhancing the streetscape on Broadway Road between Mill Avenue and Rural Road.

Click here for more information on the Broadway Road Streetscape Project.

Let’s show up and represent the cycling community!

Time and Location: Feb. 25 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Community Christian Church, 1701 S. College Ave.

Most cities in the United States create “general plans” to guide future development and investment in their cities. These plans cover issues such housing, parks, and transportation. The City of Tempe is launching its general plan updating process – called “General Plan 2040.” You can learn more here, and to see the last general plan for 2030, visit here. The city will host a variety of public meetings to get feedback from residents about the plan. They will also post draft chapters for public feedback. The city’s bicyclists and pedestrians need a voice in this process.

The first public meetings are being held at the Tempe History Museum – 809 E. Southern Ave, Tempe 85282 on:

September 24th, 5-7pm
January 22, 5-7pm

If you’re interested in joining the TBAG advocacy team, please email me. We will need help to follow the process, attend all of the meetings and review draft documents to insure that the general plan includes a strong emphasis on making the city more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. We will have a meeting (details to come shortly) before the 24th to discuss our TBAG vision and priorities.

The City of Tempe is holding their second public meeting about the streetscape redesign on Hardy Drive between University Drive and Broadway Road. While the last meeting was very positive towards bikes and pedestrians, we need to show up to continue that positive energy. Details are below.

The City of Tempe is holding a public meeting to talk with residents, neighbors and businesses about a project to improve pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities and enhance the streetscape on Hardy Drive between University Drive and Broadway Road. This project is funded with $1.2 million in federal grant money.

Discussion at the meeting will include:
• Gathering input from residents, businesses and organizations along the Hardy Drive corridor on potential design elements
• Review and solicit comments on the preliminary design concepts
• Updating the public about the project process and timeline

The project will likely include bicycle, pedestrian, and transit facilities enhancements, ADA improvements and landscaping. The project will make the street more user-friendly, multi-modal and sustainable.

Attention TBAG advocates! The city of Tempe is holding an open house to talk about a project to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities and enhance the streetscape on Hardy Drive between University Drive and Broadway Road. The open house will be held Wednesday, May 23 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Dennis J. Cahill Senior Center in the Westside Multi-Gen Center, 715 W. 5th St., Tempe.

Discussion at the meeting will include:
• Gathering input from residents, businesses and organizations along the Hardy Drive corridor on potential design elements
• Updating the public about the project process and timeline

See the City of Tempe website for more detail and a link to submit comments on the project.

We invite all Arizona cyclists to join this rally in response to recent roadway incidents causing serious injury and death to cyclists.

Attend to support:
* Building Awareness for Cycling
* Promote sharing the road and safe cycling
* Show lawmakers that cycling is important to their constituents to pave the way for legislative change, including Distracted Driver statutes and Vulnerable User bills.

This is event is for cyclists of all types and skill levels. Local teams, groups and shops are organizing designated meet-up locations to ride together to the Rally.

This is a media event so wear your team kits with pride and – of course – model the safe, respectful cycling we know you practice.

Honor those fellow cyclists lost and injured on our roadways with your attendance. Hear from the families and survivors and have an opportunity to share your testimony. Join us in saying Not One More Cyclist need be injured or lost on Arizona roads!

The City of Mesa and the Downtown Mesa Association is hosting a new Arizona bicycle festival on Saturday April 14th. TBAG and our youth program is going to be a big part of this event. TBAG and WE-CYCLE-USA will be running and sponsoring the Kids Area, Bike Rodeo and the Bike Swap. There is still time to get involved so if you want to help let us know.

We will have carnival games, Bounce houses and fun for the kids. We will also have a Bike Swap with venders selling bike stuff in the streets of downtown Mesa for the big kids. This is the first year of this event but it is combining several events that have been going on for years. This year’s event will be kicked off by the Start of the Tour De Mesa. There will also be a Cyclovia witch will close off the streets of downtown Mesa to Cars. There will be a bike swap in the streets, historic bike tour, arts, crafts, live music, food and fun for everyone. For more info go to the web site at www.azbikefest.org or contact Robert at 602-516-0002